Competitions
by inthenightside
Summary: another fill from the masskink meme: that Samara vs Nihlus contest viewed through masskink goggles :
1. Chapter 1

ok, just another fill from masskink -  
original request was that cat-and-mouse game between Nihlus and Samara with some 'action' added.

Well, at least I tried.

* * *

Light filtered through the canopy of treetops in golden, narrow beams that lit up the ever-present fine mist which permeated the jungle. The ever-present sound of the nearby river was a constant backdrop to the other natural sounds of the scenery.  
The ground ahead was soft, too soft, and Nihlus swerved closer to the tree roots where the ground was drier and harder and less likely to retain his footprints.  
After all, there was no reason at all that he should make it more easy for the crazed asari tracking him. Thinking of that one, he shook his spiked head, sending drops of water flying. Really, what were the odds of running across an asari justicar in the course of duty and simultaneously setting her off so badly that now she was coming after him?  
All he had done was take out an asari criminal who, sensing him on her track, had hidden herself in a small, newly established colony in the outer edges of Asari space on a rather out-of-the way planet named Tevkin. Of course she had done her best to make herself appear as harmless and ordinary as possible. Nihlus didn't know nor really care what kind of story she had spun for the colonists, but it had to have been a convincing one.

Looking back maybe marching straight in and shooting the offending asari hadn't been the most diplomatic manner in which to handle things, granted, but he couldn't have known about the visiting justicar. Or the fact that she'd just witnessed him killing an "unarmed civilian".  
Nihlus snorted. He doubted the "unarmed" bit, and he knew the "civilian" part to be false, but the justicar hadn't even given him time to explain. Nor had his hasty identification as a Council Spectre made any difference to her.  
The vehemence with which she had attacked had taken him by surprise, and rather than have it out with her in a place packed dense with civilians - whom he, actually, didn't want to hurt, and who probably could turn hostile fast enough if he remembered his alien culture lessons about asari justicars and their status in asari society correctly - he'd opted for a strategic retreat into the adjourning jungle.

Nihlus had been confident that he'd be able to lose her there quickly, or at least stay hidden until she lost resolve and gave up. And when that happened, he could double back to close to the colony where he'd left his ship hidden and make his escape. The galaxy was a big place, it wasn't likely their paths would cross again.

No such luck, apparently, he thought as a huge fallen tree trunk momentarily blocked his path. Without even a break in his movements, he cleared the obstacle with a jump.

Crazy the asari might be, stupid she wasn't. Neither did she seem capable of giving up. And as hard it was to admit, she was good, very good.  
They'd playing at this for, what was it, weeks? now. At first he hadn't completely taken her seriously, but that had changed very quickly when he'd let her come a bit too close in order to observe what she'd do, and she'd almost gotten him with a strange biotic attack that left him feeling oddly weakened without leaving any outward damage. It had readjusted his appreciation of the danger she represented, then, and he'd needed every bit of skill that he did possess to vanish on her in that state and keep his head down until he had recovered.

Of course, he'd gotten his own back with a very nice trap he'd set for her, that had involved one grenade and an elaborate setup using quite a bit of space and local vegetation.  
He grinned in recollection. The asari had learned the hard way with that that hunting a Spectre wasn't a risk-free endeavour either.

So far, he wasn't too worried, really. Yes, she was dangerous and out to kill him, but he wasn't even hurt, so far.  
He was down to his black undersuit - the asari's initial attack had badly damaged his armor, and later on he'd found to his dismay that with nothing but natural environment all around, she'd been able to get a partial fix on him via the signature of whatever tech of his armor still was working properly.  
The discarded armor had made a nice bait for the first trap he'd set for her, though.  
He had his weapons, with the exception of his assault rifle, which he had lost in swimming the river at his initial escape, the rest of his equipment and rations for another week or so, so he could afford to be patient.

And if he really was honest with himself, he somehow enjoyed the direct contest. Taking chances with his life was part of his daily schedule, but usually things were too complicated, too much depended on him surviving.  
This here was a pure challenge, just between the two of them. True enough, there was rarely a time when there wasn't someone somewhere trying to kill him, but most were unskilled idiots who relied on strength in numbers and lots of weapons. Worthy opponents were so rare, and this asari was the best challenge he'd come across in years. He was enjoying this far too much for his own sanity, but he didn't care. He consoled himself that Spectres were by definition insane. Otherwise, why else would they take the risks they did, for no apparent gain but some status?

It was entirely possible she might get him if his luck went bad or if he made some mistake, but by his reckoning it was worth the risk. Besides, he still figured himself to have the advantage here. He wasn't familiar with this world, but when it came down to it a jungle was a jungle, and he knew very well how to survive and fight in such an environment. It was too bad that apart from water, of course, nothing here was of the correct chemical property to sustain him, so he had to rely on his rations for food. On the up side, the local fauna wasn't used to deal with something like him either. His own natural body plating was too much to overcome for the myriad of parasitic small creatures who took blood and tissue from larger creatures. The predators, smaller and larger, didn't know what to make of him and opted for staying out of his way.

Which was a good thing, really, because there was quite an abundance of wildlife around here. He'd even stumbled upon a quite sizable ecirra colony, which in fact wasn't too far from the asari settlement, and he took it as a fact that the colonists would have trouble with them at some point in the future. Whatever their native world was he had no idea, but they were common enough on many worlds and spread to new worlds travelling as hidden vermin on freighters whose crew was too lazy and sloppy to properly check their cargo. Usually they were more of a nuisance than an actual danger, since they preferred scavenging to hunting, but their digging was enough to classify them as vermin, and once a colony got too large, and too hungry, they were known to attack prey many times their own size, and do so in overwhelming numbers. Standing not quite high enough to reach the base of his spurs, and covered in rough scales with a body shape more suited to their underground, burrowing lifestyle, a single ecirra wasn't much of a challenge, but getting swarmed by a large number of them was a very unpleasant way to go.  
He'd seen it happen, before.  
Fortunately for him, they hadn't been interested in him, and he'd made a point of keeping his distance as he passed them by.

The plant-life around was quite varied, too, but again the things his omnitool identified as poisonous or venomous to him couldn't punch through his plates either, so he didn't have to worry about those hazards.  
Nihlus kept an eye out for those chemically interesting organisms anyway. Just because they were no danger to him didn't mean that the asari was safe from them, as well.  
The asari had her biotics, but she needed a clear line of sight for that, and in this terrain that wasn't easy. He had no armor, but hers was damaged badly by his grenade trap, so that made them about even in that regard as well.

Nihlus grinned again. So far, he was in the lead when it came to creative traps, and he fully intended to improve on that score.  
Moving effortlessly through some denser vegetation, he came upon a small clearing and stopped, struck by an idea.  
He had taken a lot of time observing fauna and flora, learning by their example about the properties of this environment, so he knew what the large cluster of curly vines had to be.

From the outside, these ranking vines weren't much different from the myriad of other species growing under and up the larger trees. There was a small difference in colouration, discernible by his excellent colour vision, but the difference was so small that a member of another species, say, and asari, might miss it. Different from the others, those actually were predators in their own right, carnivorous plant life that preyed on very small animals. Contrary to other carnivorous plants he'd seen before, these didn't rely on speed and closing trap-like structures or glue-like substances. Instead, some of the vines were extremely fragile to touch and, if broken, released a compound that acted as a strong sedative to local wildlife. Once the prey was fast asleep, the breakage of the toxin-carrying vines triggered the surrounding vines to change structure internally and drop down, starting other chemical processes to digest whatever was below it. It was slow, but in this context the plant could afford to take its time.  
So far he'd only seen a handful of them, and much smaller than those here.  
This cluster here was large enough to have a good chance at stunning something much bigger. Like, for example, an asari justicar.

His mandibles drew back, exposing his teeth in a feral grin.

This is too good to pass up. Let's see how you deal with this, justicar.

He walked over to the cluster, taking a bit less care not to leave any traces on the ground. Too obvious would be a warning. She's not stupid.  
Just for good measure he removed his right glove and left it in the tangle, almost but not quite hidden.  
Then he backtracked, selected one of the trees with presumably a good view of the vine cluster. He jumped straight up, grasping at a branch that was just in reach for him and pulled himself up, careful as not to leave any tell-tale scratches in the bark. Just a bit further up the tree branched out and sported thick foliage that would serve well to keep him hidden.  
Satisfied, he unpacked his sniper rifle and settled in for the wait.


	2. Chapter 2

Nihlus didn't have to wait long, either; the justicar had been quite a bit closer than he'd calculated. He clicked his mandibles in slight annoyance, then went very still as he tracked the asari in her distinctive red battlesuit through the scope of his sniper rifle.  
She moved very well, he had to admit as he watched her step silently out on the clearing, smooth and efficient with a careless grace.

And really, there was a lot to admire here beyond her obvious skill. Her figure was a pleasant mix of curves and angles, her skin tone an appealing shade of blue with a touch of grey. He did have quite some experience with asari - it was almost unavoidable, that, once one travelled the reaches of citadel space - and had soon found an appreciation for the species in general. Still, this one was, to his eyes, exceedingly attractive, although he wouldn't have been able to say whether this was due to her looks, her competence as a fighter or any combination thereof. If circumstances were different, he'd probably been very tempted to make a move on her.

Too bad she was trying to kill him.

More the pity, he might have to respond in kind. He had no grudges here and wasn't out for her blood, but if she pressed him too hard he wouldn't hesitate either. So far he still had some hope to avoid this, however. And if this trick worked, chances were high he could avoid a fight to the end.  
She was close enough to the vines now, inspecting the traces he had left there.  
And the smart move now would be to go for a headshot or at least try to do significant damage. Yet he was reluctant to. In the end, he left the ammo he'd loaded.

Now.

His claw curled around the trigger, slowly, and a concussive shot hit her middle nice and square, sending her flying backwards into the tangle of vines.

Nihlus had no chance to congratulate himself on his aim, however, because even in falling she twisted to look at his position and lashed out her hand into his general direction.  
He didn't need to guess at what she was doing, either, as, faster than even a highly trained turian could react, he felt himself grabbed by some unseen force and yanked from his perch.  
The next thing he knew he was crashing headlong into the vines.

Oh, hell.

He landed hard, plant particles flying around him, but rolled immediately to get his feet under himself for a jump. With a savage snarl he launched himself at her, the logical move to combine getting away from the vines as well as avoiding another biotic attack by direct means.  
He caught her expression of shock that quickly turned to rage as he threw her over, but she twisted away immediately, delivering a hard kick at his collar.  
Nihlus gritted his teeth and snatched, caught her ankle and yanked.

She snarled, every bit as menacing as himself, but the expected biotic attack never came.

She wasn't bad in hand-to-hand, he had to admit, but it wasn't her specialisation, and he was heavier, stronger, had a bit of natural armor and better training.  
True, he caught a couple of painful blows - she obviously knew enough about turians to know exactly where to hit - but in the end that didn't save her as he managed to get his claws around her neck.  
"Can we stop this now or do I really need to snap your neck?" he asked her.

She went still, glaring at him, but he chose to take that as a sort of assent and loosened his hold on her a bit so she could at least get her breath back.

Just as he needed to. His pulse was still racing, which was a bit odd. Something was wrong, he thought absently as he considered the asari. They both had gotten some of the vine's sap on them, she presumably more than him, but judging from the lively fight they'd just had, she wasn't anywhere near sedated. Though it was odd that she hadn't tried to use any biotics on him, so there had been at least some effect to the toxin.  
Nor did he feel tired...but he did feel unbalanced in some way. His head was getting light, and he found himself strangely distracted by the tone of the asari's skin. Such a lovely colour...And scent, now that he was thinking about it. Mustn't forget she smells nice, too.

With a snarl, he shook himself out of it, cursing himself for an idiot. He should have tested the substance in the vines further; either the plant was creating different substances in its life cycle or the effects were quite different when one caught a low dosage. Either way, he knew he was drugged, and he had a bad feeling he knew what the effects were on him.  
The justicar was staring at him, her eyes wide, and Nihlus suspected she was going through the same conclusions as him.  
"Something in the vine's sap?" she asked, wondering aloud, and he nodded.

"Meant to just sedate you." he made an attempt at explanation. "Didn't plan for this."

"No, I didn't think you would." she agreed, and something in that tone made him want to growl.

He couldn't seem to be able to let go of her, and the fact of that shocked him enough that regained enough control to drop her hastily.  
The smart thing would have been to at least knock her unconscious, and then get the hell out of here, but he simply couldn't bring himself to do that.  
Damned instincts.

She landed in a crouch, still graceful, and he hastily backed away a few steps. Something had changed in her expression as well, and the look she gave him was almost predatory, measuring.

"I still intend to kill you." she stated, coolly, and he shrugged.

"I somehow got that, yes."

"But right now..." her voice trailed off.

"Truce?" he offered, and though there was a flash of surprise in her eyes, she nodded.

Well, a justicar's code didn't allow her to lie about something like that, so perhaps at the moment he was safe.  
Nihlus let out the breath he'd been holding and sighed. "I suggest we-"

She pounced at him, quicker than he'd though possible - or perhaps it was only his reaction that had slowed down so much - and he went down. Automatically his hands clamped around her wrists to prevent her from striking as they went rolling.  
Dimly he registered she'd at least didn't kick this time as he finally pinned her.  
"So much for truce." he snarled at her. To his surprise, she smiled, and it wasn't even a mean expression. Before he could wrap his mind around that, she wrapped her legs around his waist and used his momentary surprise to flip them over.  
Nihlus had enough presence of mind to keep his hold on her wrists, but that was about the extent of it.

"Stop this." he snarled. "before I do something we both will regret." This loss of control was something that scared him deeply. Sex was easy, playing a bit rough fine, a deadly game of tag with an asari justicar out in the jungle was good fun. Losing control like that was unthinkable, scary in a sense that looking down at a gun pointed at him wasn't. It was eroding what he was, what set of rules he followed.

Her odd smile didn't waver as she clung tight and leaned over him. "This doesn't necessarily have to end in regret."

He snarled again. "Look, the morals I follow are nothing like your code, but even so I do happen to have a certain set of rules. And I'm not in the habit of forcing my attentions on anyone."

"I didn't say your advances would be unwelcome." she stated.

He went rigid, both with surprise at her words and the sensation of her thighs against his waist.  
So. She was about in the same state, then.  
Still, some shred of sanity remained as he warned, his voice getting ragged. "You better be sure about this, because I have no idea whether I can stop, once -"

"I've wandered this galaxy for centuries." she interrupted, her tone even and devoid of arrogance. She merely was stating a fact. "I'm quite familiar with your species. In all regards, I might add."

As if to prove this, she darted in, and reason took a leave of absence as her teeth closed on the softer skin on the side of his neck.  
That bite was all the permission he needed. He released her wrists and clawed at her suit, peeling the parts off her even as she ran her hands over his own suit, displaying indeed as much competence as she had implied in getting a turian free of his clothing.  
The only thing he really registered was that there was no more fabric separating them, and he clamped his hands around her waist, holding her in place against his plates, felt them draw aside.  
Nihlus growled and pushed against her, hard, burying himself in her in a sharp move.

The asari's response was to cling even tighter to him, and when he started thrusting at her, she met him with equal force.

Still a contest, is it? Somehow that made it easier, helped define what this madness was.

His performance might have been lacking the usual finesse, but as matters were the situation didn't require any of that right now. If the sounds she made were anything to go by, she had no complaints either. She threw her head back with a moan, dug her nails into his collar, hard, which made him increase his pace. It was too intense to last long, he knew that, but was past thinking or caring.  
The asari tensed, then shuddered around him, and that was all it took to drive him over the edge. He snarled as his climax hit home, just barely remembering not to clench his claws too much, barely remembering that her skin was soft and unplated.

She leaned forward, breathing as hard as he was, and ran her fingertips over his face, tracing his white markings with an oddly absent expression.

Nihlus shifted, uncomfortable under her scrutiny for no logical reason. That was, apparently the wrong thing to do, or maybe the right one, because her expression changed, her eyes getting darker.

His own reaction was much the same, though with different symptoms, of course. No, they weren't done. Not even close.

He met her gaze, and there was a moment of perfect agreement as she almost playfully dug her fingernails into the softer skin at the inner side of his collar. With a snarl that was as much reflex as anything else, he twisted and threw her off, rolling immediately to pin her. She struggled as he gripped her wrists again, the look in her face positively feral.

Again, some deeper sense made him hesitate, as his instincts were busy determining what response was appropriate, trying to sort out whether she was actually resisting or playing at it.

She stilled for a moment, looking almost searchingly at him. An odd expression he couldn't quite identify crossed her features, then she narrowed her eyes again. "For further reference, consider my permission given."

As he struggled to process what she meant, she strained against his grip again, and as he concentrated on immobilising her wrists, she twisted and hooked one leg over his hip, yanking him down. "You can do better than that."

That was a challenge if he'd ever seen heard one, and he was unable to resist, in any regard.

He wasn't about to give up control that lightly, this time. Instead, he pushed himself back into a sitting position, breaking her hold, then turned her over and pulled her into his lap the same movement.  
She tried to turn, and he leaned forward, taking hold of her waist while fastening his teeth around the back of her neck. The asari cried out, but it definitely wasn't a sound of fear or pain. His teeth just held, with just enough pressure to maintain a grip while not breaking skin. That would have been unforgivable.  
He felt her relax against him, for the moment at least ceding control, and this freed his hands to start moving gently over her body.

Nihlus had had his knowledge of asari anatomy and especially erogenous zones founded, trained, reviewed and expanded upon by many a friendly asari soldier or commando over time, and he was a firm believer in practising his skills whenever possible. He had no trouble at all determining where and how to touch, and the fact that she was rather vocal in her approval was quite helpful. Not to mention, stimulating.

He did have certain standards to maintain, however, so he held off until she gave a moan and arched against him, then he slid into her again, managing to do it a bit slower this time.  
She shuddered again and murmured something his translator didn't quite catch, which was probably a pity, but it didn't need words for him to know that his presence right now was quite welcome.

He moved slowly against her, still working his hands over her body, and still gently biting her neck. The sounds she made were really appealing, and he firmly reminded himself again of his standards, fighting his instinct to move faster. It proved to be just enough, because even as he felt he was losing that fight, she came with a strangled gasp, and he wasn't far behind. His vision almost blacked out with the intensity of it, and he let go of her neck.

She remained relaxed, leaning against him, and he dared to lick the back of her neck, then moved up a bit to the underside of her fringe.  
That got him a reaction, all right, as she went rigid for a second, then almost melted against him. He growled and nipped at her neck, quite pleased with the way things were at this moment.  
The asari tensed again, and that was the only warning he got as she twisted in a wonderfully sinuous move out of his grip and turned around, facing him.  
Her skin was flushed a lovely shade of blue, and her eyes were still very dark, but her expression was almost mischievous as she started her own assault on him. She wrapped her legs around him again, and when her fingers found the underside of his own fringe, sending an almost electric shock through him, he gave up on even making a token effort at resisting.

She had told the truth earlier, not that he had doubted her. She was very familiar with turians.

Even in this, they were evenly matched.

Her other hand found another very sensitive spot of his anatomy, and he groaned and closed his eyes, consoling himself with the thought that it there was no shame in conceding a round to a very worthy opponent. Besides, there almost certainly would be a rematch later on. Or rather, several of them. 


	3. Chapter 3

Nihlus was lying half curled around the drowsing asari, feeling a strange reluctance to move. His mind was clear again, and if he was honest with himself, it had been for some time. The same almost certainly had held true for the justicar; while their behaviour initially had been triggered by the vine's toxin, they both had freely and creatively expanded upon it. His reasons were certainly pragmatic; his life didn't have many opportunities for enjoyment without consequences, and if one came around it was to be seized. Maybe her reasons were the same, maybe not. Chances were he'd never know, but that wasn't that important anyway. He did know for certain that she'd enjoyed that unexpected reprieve as much as he had, which kept whatever doubled as his conscience those days silent enough.  
Nihlus touched her shoulder cautiously, but she didn't react.  
Good enough.  
He didn't flatter himself by thinking he'd exhausted her, but she had gotten a lot more of the toxin into her system, and apparently she was by virtue of species more susceptible to it, and took longer to shake off all of its effects. In any case, he had the advantage right now.  
The Spectre got up, still careful not to disturb the justicar, then retrieved his clothes and armor and got himself dressed. From his med pack, he retrieved a tranquilizer patch that he quickly applied to the sleeping justicar's neck. He nodded to himself. That would buy him some more time, at least.  
Then, just because he had to know what had gone wrong in his original plan, he went over to what was left of the vines and clicked on his omnitool. A few scans later, he clicked his mandibles in irritation. Well, he had been hasty. It was the same plant, but in a different stage of its life. Apparently, once they were ready to propagate, the toxin changed to something that induced slight disorientation and mild euphoria in the local fauna. Any afflicted animal would stagger and roll around in the broken vines, then carry off its spores to whereever it went afterwards. Too bad that the effect on sentient life was a bit more drastic.  
Well, another puzzle solved.  
Now, what was he to do with the justicar?  
The tranq patch would keep the asari out for a while, but Nihlus knew he couldn't just leave her out in the open. Apart from the fact that she'd be in danger from any of the larger predators that inhabited this region he wasn't too certain he could make it all the way to his ship and off this world before she woke up and got on his trail again.  
And really, he was done playing hide and seek. And he still didn't want her dead. Even less that before, maybe.

He could carry her along, keep her out until he got back to his ship, but if she had found his ship and set her own traps, that was too risky, even if he tied her up. He couldn't keep his attention on a pro like her and investigate a potentially trapped ship at the same time.  
Incapacitating her was an option, but given her persistence it would take some severe injuries to slow her down enough, and there was again the problem that he wasn't the only predator in this jungle. Therefore he'd have to get a bit more creative again.  
Then he remembered the ecirra colony, and his mandibles drew back from his teeth in a wide grin. Oh yes, that might work. He'd still have to get her back into her armor and carry her a bit, but that would be worth it.

A few hours later, Nihlus walked into the small asari settlement. His presence was noted, but he had to wait a few minutes for one colonist brave enough to actually approach him. Not that he could blame them; he probably looked like he'd been through a minor war.  
The asari who was the first to come close didn't seem to know what to say, but he solved that problem for her. "If you want your justicar back" he said bluntly, "then you'd better go get her as soon as possible. I left her in that ecirra colony about an hour north of here."  
The asari gasped. "Justicar Samara - did you ...is she hurt?"  
Samara, huh? Nice to finally put a name to the face.  
He gave her his best blank stare, the one he'd learned from his old mentor, the one who'd gotten him into Spectre training. It seemed to be as effective as ever, he was pleased to note as the colonist shrank back into herself.  
He usually didn't enjoy scaring civilians, but in this case it was necessary. She needed to believe him.  
"When I left, she was unharmed. Of course, that was some time ago."  
The asari turned away from him, looking like she was ready to run into the jungle as she was. He wasn't completely heartless, so he snatched her arm, clamping his claws down just hard enough to make her pause. When he was sure he had her attention again, he just growled "Remember to bring guns, and put on some armor." She nodded, and he released her.  
Watching her hurry off, he inwardly shook his head. Amateurs. Well, he really should be grateful, because that was exactly the reaction he'd aimed for.

He appropriated a comm unit from another asari that happened to get out of his way too slow, then he turned back into the jungle, towards the direction where his ship was hidden. He wasn't sure about how much time he had, so he was lengthening his strides.

As soon as he was out of earshot from any of the colonists, he clicked on the comm, fiddled around with the frequency until he was certain he'd gotten it right, and spoke calmly. "Hello, Samara. Awake yet?"

Her voice was cold, even devoid of anger.  
"Very much so. And I didn't appreciate waking up tied to the top of a boulder more or less in the middle of an ecirra colony. You will have the opportunity to judge this for yourself very soon."

"No, I won't. I don't know where you are, but I wouldn't suggest you move too far away from the ecirra colony."  
Nihlus could almost hear her think.

"And why would I do that?"

The Spectre allowed himself a rather smug grin. "Because I'm back at the settlement and told the civilians here where to find you. And at least one just ran off to rescue you. She seemed very determined to find you before they could do you any harm."

"You sent one of the colonist alone into the jungle at a ecirra colony." Samara summarised flatly.

"Actually I didn't. It was her own idea."

The justicar didn't reply for a while, then stated in the same flat tone. "A civilian isn't trained for this, and that's a large colony. She'll be killed."

"Not if you find her before the ecirra do." Nihlus suggested calmly.  
He was exaggerating a bit, probably. He had told the asari colonist to arm herself and suit up properly, and he assumed she had had the sense to follow his advice. If she showed a bit of common sense, remained calm and moved slowly, the ecirra would probably even leave her alone. But neither he nor the justicar could be certain of that, and reasonable doubt, hopefully, would be enough to tip the scales in this case.

Again a pause, then the justicar's voice came over the comm again. "I see. There's no choice in what to do for me. I cannot allow an innocent come to harm, especially not for my own sake."

Nihlus breathed a very careful sigh of relief. "Thought you'd see it that way." Or rather, I hoped.

"I can see that, too." Another pause. "Well played." she acknowledged, without any discernible anger.

"Thank you" he replied, meaning it.

There was a pause, then her voice was back. "Given your profession and mine, it is unlikely our paths will cross again."

Nihlus nodded to himself. She was telling him that she wasn't going out of her way to hunt him down, which was good enough.

"However", the justicar continued, "I would appreciate it as a courtesy if the details of our...conflict...weren't to become public knowledge."

The Spectre winced, suddenly glad the comm had no vid feed. "As far as I am concerned there's nothing to tell." He meant it. It wasn't that he was ashamed of what they'd done, but his misjudgement of the toxin and the resulting loss of control were mistakes he'd rather not be reminded of by anyone else. The rest, well, he wouldn't mind remembering that, but that was a private matter, too.

"Then we are in agreement. Farewell, then, Spectre, and let us hope for both our sakes we will not meet again."

"Goodbye, Samara."

Nihlus made it back to his ship in record time, finding it in good order, undisturbed and with no traps rigged to it, which was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.  
He didn't waste any time in taking off, and relaxed only when Tevkin became a small spot on his monitors.  
Nihlus grinned. The match itself had been a draw, but he'd survived and escaped, which meant he'd won. Still, it would be much better to get some distance between himself and this place. Actually, the Citadel sounded appealing, right now, especially as he needed to report on his last mission and replace what gear he had lost anyway.  
Decision made, he plotted a course back to his official headquarters, then let the autopilot take over and settled in for a much-needed rest.  



End file.
